Amber Alert Research

http://www.chp.ca.gov/amber/amber-en.html

California Highway Patrol Amber Alert page probably answers a lot of your questions. Information is put out to the press (radio, tv, and if the alert goes on long enough, newspapers). Info (car make, model, color, license number if available) is also posted on the (often portable) lighted sign boards on highways that are used to warn of traffic delays, detours, construction, lane closures, etc. The idea is simply to distribute the information as widely as possible so that many eyes are watching for the kidnapper's vehicle. The system seems to be quite effective.

D.C. is my hometown and what Tish told you is pretty much the way it works. You'll hear the Emergency Alert Tone on the radio and television stations followed by an announcement with what you're supposed to be on the lookout for and then the traffic signs will often post the information as well. With traffic such as it is around there, you have plenty of time to read the signs thoroughly and even write it down if it's rush hour (writing at >1 mph is safer than sneezing.) And then, of course, plenty of time to scan the vehicles around you.

There's also the official amber alert website.

This should give you enough to read:

http://www.klaaskids.org/amst-washdc.htm

http://www.sexcriminals.com/amber-alert/us/washington-dc/

Or just Google for "amber alert washington dc".

Yup. FYI-Amber alert was named for a little girl kidnapped here in the Metroplex: Amber Hagerman. Her murder is still unsolved, but as a mother myself, it scared the snockers out of me. She was snatched off her bicycle in broad daylight, stuffed in a truck. Her nude body washed out of a creek something like 11 days later. It took such a long time getting the information out about the truck that Arlington CID decided that they needed a better way. They felt they could have possibly saved her if people had known to look for the truck immediately. It started as a local program, but quickly spread.